A previous employee of Tribune Co., Matthew Keys, is being charged for assisting Anonymous in executing an online security breach. Keys was fired from Tribune Co. a few months prior to giving an Anonymous member his login credentials to the Tribune website. The Anon who received the information logged in and altered an LA Times story. Congress is charging Keys and pushing for the harshest punishment to help prevent future website defacing. He currently faces up to 25 years in prison and up to a $500,000 fine.
Analysis:
This article shows how seriously Congress is taking online hacking and cyber breaches. Similar to Aaron Swartz, the US government is pushing for harsher punishments on the other known cyber criminals to keep future cyber attacks from occurring. These currently unknown criminals may be less willing to participate in cyber attacks if they know the potential penalties are harsh. In addition, the fact that Keys' login to the Tribune website was still active a few months after he was fired reveals a serious security threat. If Tribune had a security procedure of canceling employees credentials after their termination, this problem might have not occurred at all.
A previous employee of Tribune Co., Matthew Keys, is being charged for assisting Anonymous in executing an online security breach. Keys was fired from Tribune Co. a few months prior to giving an Anonymous member his login credentials to the Tribune website. The Anon who received the information logged in and altered an LA Times story. Congress is charging Keys and pushing for the harshest punishment to help prevent future website defacing. He currently faces up to 25 years in prison and up to a $500,000 fine.
Analysis:
This article shows how seriously Congress is taking online hacking and cyber breaches. Similar to Aaron Swartz, the US government is pushing for harsher punishments on the other known cyber criminals to keep future cyber attacks from occurring. These currently unknown criminals may be less willing to participate in cyber attacks if they know the potential penalties are harsh. In addition, the fact that Keys' login to the Tribune website was still active a few months after he was fired reveals a serious security threat. If Tribune had a security procedure of canceling employees credentials after their termination, this problem might have not occurred at all.